A car is one of the biggest financial investments that many of us will make and it can be an important part of everyday travel. However, there may come a time where you and your beloved motor must part ways. You may have a desire to upgrade to a newer and/or a more economical model. You may have to change your vehicle type to be more accommodating for business or family life. Your income from selling your current motor should help contribute to your next purchase, so it pays to have made the effort to keep your car in good condition. Not only will this help you get the best possible price when you’re ready to sell but it will also be safe and reliable for its new owner as well.

Warranty Direct has complied some straight forward tips that can help you with selling your motor.

First impressions count

When selling your car, make sure that it is clean and tidy inside and out. A buyer will want to visualise themselves in your vehicle, and that will be a lot harder to do if the vehicle doesn’t look appealing.

A grubby, unwashed vehicle exterior may also give the impression your car hasn’t been looked after properly to a buyer. As well as giving the car a good wash, it’s worth paying attention to the condition of the car’s body. Any scratches that can be buffed out, small chips filled in and dents removed will make your vehicle instantly more desirable and add value.

On the inside, the interior should be as equally appealing. A floor littered with old receipts, sweet wrappers, CDs and empty water bottles for example will not help you sell. Another cost-effective tip is to change any worn interiors, such as old floor mats – you will be surprised at how small tweaks can smarten up your car’s overall appearance.

Provide a valid MOT, service & warranty

A valid MOT is essential for any car on the road. If it is close to running out, it should be renewed before selling. No one wants to purchase a vehicle and then immediately have to shell out for unknown faults, due to poor maintenance. A recent MOT will give the buyer more confidence in the vehicle, as opposed to a car which may not have been professionally checked for a while.

Arranging a complete service history will also help give any potential buyers a full informed background into how your vehicle has been maintained throughout your ownership. It’s important to make sure you have the vehicle’s V5 or Logbook documentation as it will also show the necessary information. You’ll also need it if you do complete a sale as the V5 / Logbook will need updating to reflect the new owner’s details.

It is also useful to check the status of your warranty, whether it is a manufacture’s or an extended one, as selling with one that is still valid could allow you to get more money for your vehicle. For a car’s warranty to be binding it will need to have been serviced in the last 12 months and any issues fixed prior to sale.

An added benefit of most extended warranties is that they are often transferable (for a small fee) if you sell before your policy expires. This can add value and make your car more attractive to buyers, but make sure you check with your provider if there are any reasons why transferring may not be possible.

Ensure the price is right

Once you have checked on the warranty status and MOT, you will need to decide how much you want to list your car for. Online research through car buying websites such as Auto Trader can provide a good indication of price by allowing you to see how much similar cars have been selling for.

It might also be worth checking your car’s depreciation from the original purchase value. This can help give you an idea of a realistic expectation of value from any potential buyers.

List your vehicle correctly

When listing your vehicle, it is essential to describe it as accurately as possible. The car make, model and year the car was first registered is vital. It also helps to inform any potential buyers looking at your listing about any faults that may currently exist with the vehicle – even if they’re small and not necessarily required following the last service or MOT.

The more informative and accurate your listing is, the better the chance of being able to attract the right buyer. A lack of information or exaggeration of facts can hinder any potential sales. The buyer knows exactly what they are getting for their cash and letting them know clearly with your listing is the best way to do that.

You must detail the year the car was registered and ensure all its documents are up-to-date and passed onto the new owner.

Completing the sale

If you’ve managed to sell your car, it is important and a legal requirement that you let the DVLA know you no longer own the vehicle and it has a new owner. Updating and sending the vehicle’s V5 documentation will allow the DVLA to update its records accordingly. You must also make sure you cancel your current vehicle tax. The new owner of the car will have to tax the vehicle themselves.

Informing the DVLA and making the required changes to documentation and tax can protect you from any parking tickets, speeding fines, tax or SORN fines that may happen with the new owner. So, make sure the DVLA are informed of the sale as soon as possible otherwise you may be handed any future offences of the new owner.

If applicable, your warranty company will need to know about the sale as well. Whilst most providers are more than happy to swap a warranty, the new owner’s details will still need to be checked and logged. Failure to do so will make the warranty void.

A new study of 3-8 year old cars from Warranty Direct reveals the Mercedes Benz R-Class (06-15) and Saab 9-3 (04-12) are the cars most likely to suffer suspension damage. Hyundai’s Santa Fe (06-12) and the Land Rover Discovery 3 (04-10) have the next most susceptible suspension, with 13.9 and 13.3 percent respectively of Warranty Direct customers claiming for axle & suspension damage annually.

Potholes are typically at their most prevalent on Britain’s underinvested road network between January and April, as heavy rainfall undermines the lower structural layers of roads, creating cracks then more potholes, increasing the likelihood of suspension damage.

The recent Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey revealed that local authorities spent a total of £118.4m filling 2,190,026 potholes across England and Wales in the last year, but also paid out an additional £13.5m in compensation claims.

With the average repair bill for pothole damage now £350, Warranty Direct’s database of 50,000 live policies shows that the most vulnerable cars are more than 15 times worse than the most robust models.

At the opposite end of the scale, the Ford S-Max (06-15) and Nissan Qashqai (07-14) share top billing as the cars least likely to be affected by the UK’s pothole-ridden roads; both boast an impressive clean sheet when it comes to model claims relating to axle & suspension damage.

Top 10 cars with the highest % chance of an annual axle & suspension related claim

Number

Make

Model Group

Year

% chance of an axle & suspension related claim annually

1

MERCEDES-BENZ

R-Class

(06-15)

15.82%

2

SAAB

9-3

(04-12)

15.05%

3

HYUNDAI

SANTA FE

(06-12)

13.98%

4

LAND ROVER

DISCOVERY 3

(04-10)

13.37%

5

MERCEDES-BENZ

GL-Class

(06-15)

12.61%

6

VAUXHALL

ASTRA

(04-12)

11.56%

7

LANDROVER

RANGE ROVER

(02-13)

11.28%

8

BMW

X5

(07-13)

11.27%

9

MERCEDES-BENZ

E-Class

(06-09)

11.17%

10

MERCEDES-BENZ

CLS-Class

(05-10)

11.15%

Warranty Direct managing director, David Gerrans, said: “The variation you see in suspension damage from one model to another is remarkable.”

“Potholes are a major factor in causing axle & suspension failure and any vehicle regularly driven over impaired road surfaces or used for commuting over pothole-strewn routes will ultimately incur damage eventually.

“Components such as bushes, track rod ends, drop links, springs and dampers are all susceptible. Visit our Potholes.co.uk site for detailed advice on how best to make a compensation claim for any vehicle damaged by potholes.”

Warranty Direct has launched a newly-upgraded website http://www.warrantydirect.co.uk/, specifically designed to make it even faster and easier for customers to get an online quote.

The company is the UK’s leading provider of direct consumer automotive warranties and has over 50,000 live policies active.

Warranty Direct’s new site delivers a much faster quote and application process and has been optimised for mobile, tablet and desktop use, allowing you to get an instant quote wherever you are.

Warranty Direct managing director, David Gerrans, said: “We live in an increasingly connected world and we understand that the consumer’s time is precious, so we’ve made our new site as easy and intuitive to use as possible.

“As customers use their smartphones and tablets more and more to shop or research potential purchases, it’s important that we continue our drive into the connected devices space, offering people our services on their preferred gadgets and on the move.”

The new website features an all-new creative design and layout, which houses the company’s warranty, breakdown recovery, servicing and MoT products.

Warranty Direct is one of the only companies to cover many of the ‘loophole’ clauses excluded by most other extended warranty providers – these include parts failing through wear & tear*, failure of an insured part caused by the failure of an uninsured part and faults found during standard service and MoT procedures.

Warranty Direct has launched a newly-upgraded website, specifically designed to make it even faster and easier for customers to get an online quote. The new site delivers a much faster quote and application process and has been optimised for mobile, tablet and desktop use, allowing customers to get an instant quote wherever they are. Why not give it a try today?

Members of the press were invited recently to try Google’s driverless cars for themselves. While the technology aspects are sound in practicality, the experience itself leaves a lot to be desired as reported by the BBC. The technology development and push of driverless cars continues on…

Able Cause: Meet The Champion of Britain’s disabled drivers – The Telegraph

Director of policy and campaigns for Disabled Motoring UK, Helen Dolphin has helped campaigned to aid disabled motorists. This interview, conducted by The Telegraph, discusses her inspiring story and the work that Disabled Motoring UK is now doing for disabled drivers.

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As Vauxhall announces it will no longer be offering customers a ‘lifetime’ warranty on new vehicles, we wonder whether this latest move could provoke a domino effect with other Manufacturers doing the same and turning their back on long-term cover.

There are only two manufacturers currently offering a seven-year or 100,000 mile warranty on new vehicles, of which one is Vauxhall. But they have decided to stop the scheme, claiming that a rise in cars being sold on finance deals is the reason.

Warranty Direct’s managing director David Gerrans said “Several OEMs provide protection beyond the traditional three-year warranty period, promising comprehensive cover for mechanical mishaps for up to 10 years in some cases. We have previously questioned the quality of cover provided directly by manufacturers for cars over three-years old, highlighting how protection quickly tapers off and small print loopholes render policies useless as mileage and age increase.

“In many ways, it’s a shame for car buyers, but the reality is that the cover was never actually sufficient. The small print in all these longer warranties contains a number of caveats that can greatly limit their effectiveness long before the policy elapses.

“Vauxhall’s decision is sure to make other car makers think twice – an exodus from the market is possible because, if the cover is less comprehensive than that of aftermarket providers, the customer is not the winner.”